Shadow Boxing:

Hanging Straight Leg Raises:

I really wanted to crank out 12 for that second set, but my form wouldnt’ve been good – I figured it wouldnt be worth doing it unless it was spot on. It was more of a Quad issue though and not related to my Abs at all.

Well that third set was all Abdominal failure at least 🙂 I love the Ab burn, dont you?

Ready for weeks Five & Six?! These next two weeks are going to be Supersets ( See HERE for description ). So today’s workout beat the hell out of my upper body. The Supersets are no freaking joke my friends. That little explosion on the way back is no joke. Stay Strong and keep at it, It will pay off!

How was your workout today?!

-B

Pushups ( Elevated feet ) & Shove Off’s:

Oh HOT DAMN, these were underestimated in my mind before I started. Definitely going to get in an excellent workout today let me tell you. Thankfully there’s only two sets!

Some notes on these:

The Pushups are Wide Grip

There’s a three second pause at the bottom of Both exercises

There’s a three second count on the way down on the Pushups

There’s an explosive push back up on Both

Shove Off height is ~ waist high

Set 1:

5 Wide Grip Pushups

7 Shove Off’s

Set 2:

5 Wide Grip Pushups

10 Shove Off’s

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Military Press ( Elevated feet ) & Thumbs Up

Geesh the three seconds down then the pause for three seconds with the Military Presses are so hard to keep up the higher the reps go! Brutal workout today 🙂

One thing I had to pay attention to was my breathing during the Thumbs Up. It’s so easy to not breathe! I caught myself a few times, especially during the three second pause’s not breathing properly. DONT DO THAT!

Set 1:

5 Military Presses

10 Thumbs Up

Set 2:

5 Military Presses

11 Thumbs Up

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Close Pushups ( Elevated feet ) & Dips ( Chair with legs bent )

As the title mentions, I did the Dips as a Chair Dip, and I had to bend my legs because my Triceps are shot already. I can’t believe how brutal this workout is for me today 🙂 Feels great, but I can’t wait to see what I get next time I do these, because I feel like this is kicking my ass today.

Going to be a bit of a mild one for me today, I’m still recovering from shoveling out my driveway a couple days ago. Landlord gave me this little, tiny-ass kids looking shovel so I had to use a lot more of my lower back than I should’ve. That being said, I’m not going to be doing the pauses at the top of the Supermans. We’ll see though, I say that now, but once I’m into it I may be OK?

This is the last day of Interval Sets. It’s bittersweet, but I’m looking forward to the next routines. Hoping to get some time in this weekend to give the ol’ Routines page an update.

I’m honestly surprised how many people dont take up Calisthenics. It’s not that hard, unless you want it to be. Its super cheap, compared to monthly gym membership fees & if the elite of the elite in our Armed Forces almost exclusively use it to train and keep themselves in their top tier levels of fitness – it’s almost a no-brainer if you ask me. I suppose I’m a bit biased though, as I’ve always liked and admired alternative training techniques.

How’s your progress coming along?!

– B

Hanging Straight Leg Raises:

Feeling good today – Shoulders are a bit tight though from all those Pullups yesterday. Nice to see progress at least! Boy those sure do know how to put a burn on the ol’ Abdominals.

Form started to go south with that last set, so I figured I’d cut it a few reps short to maintain proper form. Good call me! haha

Set 1:

12 Hanging Straight Leg Raises

Set 2:

11 Hanging Straight Leg Raises

Set 3:

9 Hanging Straight Leg Raises

__________________________________________________________________

Supermans: ( Three second pause at the top )

OK, so I lied! I paused for three seconds at the top of each rep – well on the First set so far at least. I just couldnt help myself. I’ll keep it up as long as I’m able to maintain proper form, and feel as though I wont injure myself.

OOH, it burns so good – It’s sometimes hard to breathe consistently while doing this workout. All of my weight is essentially on my diaphragm and its almost a workout in that to keep balance on my stomach while breathing in and out.

Well I was able to crank out three full sets of 12 reps, so that feels good – with the three second pauses at the top! My lower back is on fire though, so well see how that transitions into the Hyperextensions for me. I may nix those all together, because I’ll probably be out shoveling the driveway again this weekend.

Bicycles:

I remembered from last time, that these weren’t the greatest for me. I went super slow – took over a minute to crank out the first set, and they still didnt really give me the burn I’m expecting. Guess I’ll have to go even slower, or just cut these out all together if they’re in the next couple weeks routines.

OK! I think I figured it out on that second set. I decided to do a little pause on each side when my elbows touched my leg’s. HOT DAMN, by the tenth rep, my abs were regretting that decision, but my brain wouldnt let them give up. Felt good to finish them up, but what felt even better was stretching out after.

Nothing like the burn of working out the Ab’s. I love that burn more than any other, its one of the most painful, but most satisfying. I know Ab’s are ‘built’ in the kitchen, but you need to do your work in the gym for the kitchen discipline to pay off.

Hyperextensions:

I’ve decided to keep the Hyperextensions in today. I’m just focusing on keeping good form, and going slowly. Can’t strengthen the muscles if you dont work them out! After that first set my lower back’s up for it anyway. Just needed to be warmed up I’m thinking. Plus I got an adrenaline rush from a song that came on!

In case I forgot to mention, I’m doing these with my hands under my chin – as per the recommendation in You Are Your Own Gym.

Last set finally caught up to my back, and told me to HALT! Still got in some good numbers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Had a bit too much fun and needed yesterday for a bit of recovery. I trust you were all safe and are now chomping at the bit to get your sweat on right?! I know I’ve been waiting all day to get home for this. Although, I’m not the biggest fan of Leg days, its still super important – so NO SLACKING

-B

Bulgarian Split Squats: ( Three second pause at the bottom )

I wanted to kind of take it easy on the first set, I wasn’t sure how my knee’s would do – I also had a bit of a ‘equipment’ issue while doing the first set on the left side. Probably could’ve gone for a few more reps but I ran out of time!

Was able to crank out 12 for the second set so things are going smoothly now. I’ll tell you what though, I’m glad its the ending of the second week of these. I dont like working out each routine once a week. Have to get things laid out for the next couple weeks sometime before the end of this week.

Set 1:

8 Bulgarian Split Squats ( Left )

8 Bulgarian Split Squats ( Right )

Set 2:

12 Bulgarian Split Squats ( Left )

12 Bulgarian Split Squats ( Right )

Set 3:

12 Bulgarian Split Squats ( Left )

12 Bulgarian Split Squats ( Right )

__________________________________________________________________

Side Lunges: ( Four second pause at the bottom )

Not a fan of these! They’re definitely giving my legs a nice stretch / beating. Have to keep going though, need to keep my knee’s strengthened. I didnt take good enough care of them when I was younger. The quads are on FIRE! Toyota’s are going to put the hurtin on!

Set 1:

12 Side Lunges ( Left )

12 Side Lunges ( Right )

Set 2:

12 Side Lunges ( Left )

12 Side Lunges ( Right )

Set 3:

10 Side Lunges ( Left )

10 Side Lunges ( Right )

___________________________________________________________________

Toyota’s: ( Four second pause at the bottom )

My legs are already shaky standing here typing this while the timer from the last set of Side Lunges counts down – Can’t wait to start jumping around!

OK – that first set, in my head, I was telling myself ‘You can get to 12 no problem’. The mind is strong and willing, but the body let me down this time. Better to maintain the proper form than do even one rep incorrectly. That’s how you can seriously injure yourself! I’m still focused, and mentally strong, lets see if I can overcome the physical limitations with one of these sets!

Well, no dice today, but thats OK – I’m going to use it to fuel my motivation. I can’t stand not being able to accomplish something, but I understand the importance of knowing my limits. NO WAY I want to get injured, because that will certainly delay my progress exponentially. Hot damn my things are so tight right now though – feels good!

One-Leg Romanian Dead Lifts:

FINALLY! I love doing these bad boys. Something about the balance aspect of it, and the fact that my legs are shot, and these seem to be a bit easier on them. Combo of both I’m thinking 🙂 It’s funny, it was pretty cold in my apartment when I got home after work today, and I started my workout with sweats on. Now that I’m down to this last workout, I’m down to my preferred workout attire of just my boxers. I’m still sweating uncontrollably too! Sometimes I hate how efficient my circulation and body is – The girlfriend loves it though!

When I’m doing these, I try to focus on not letting my lifting leg touch the ground on the way back down. Makes it much more ‘fun’. Not only that, but it also engages my Calves much more. Usually around the tenth rep they’re burning real nice. Nothing going to argue with any extra work for those little stabilizing muscles.

Let’s start this first week of the new year with a bang – Set some goals and AFTER you break them, bust onto the next set. Week four of You Are Your Own Gym routine – Interval Sets – Lets get to it!

Pushups were pretty standard, although I was able to crank out three full sets of 12 reps this time – felt good.

Decided to mix it up a bit with the Military Presses today and elevated my feet, as well as used the backpack full of books. Definitely put a hurt on the ol shoulders this time. Much more difficult than last time! Almost didnt make it through the last rep of the second set. Was a nice battle again, lets hope I’ve enough recovery time to get the full 12 reps on the last set.

Workouts going well today, seeing some progress with the addition of the Backpack. Gotta love progress my friends, what keeps me going. You still progressing convict?!

HOT DAMN, those Dips are still rocking me good. Don’t think I’ll be progressing any on those guys today haha. Just glad I was able to crank out all three sets with the Backpack on. The whole set was rough though.

BE SAFE TONIGHT CONVICTS CATCH Y’ALL NEXT YEAR – AND GET YOUR WORKOUTS IN!

I know, I know, today’s supposed to be a rest day, but I’m itching to get some Pushups in! It’s been since Monday or was it Sunday? I dont know, but its been far too long to go without doing some Pushups. I’m going to see if I can ‘hurt’ myself with todays workout. I’m going to be using a backpack full of books to see how much more brutal I can be MMUUAHAHAHAHA.

I’m all hopped up on my Pre-workout drink at the moment, I took two scoops today just because I’m bored and want to see if it’ll do anything different for me. I normally take Half – One scoop, but today I said ‘Ah what the hell’ might as well see what it’ll do. It’s only been ~ five minutes since I’ve taken it, and I’m already getting that scratchy crack-head type feeling in my face! haha

YOU’D BETTER NOT BE SLACKING TODAY DAMMIT – ITS A GREAT DAY TO PUSH YOURSELF – YOU CAN HEAL DURING THE WEEKEND!!

I’m not too positive on the actual weight of the books in the bag, as I dont have my scale down at this apartment. I left it up at my other one when I was moving all my stuff here unfortunately. I may pick up another here soon, but I honestly like taking measurements and seeing progress that way than actual Mass. It seems to be more of an accurate indicator for me and my goals, as the scale fluctuates so much from the water difference.

I’ve been studying like a mad man for the past couple days, and man I love this stuff! Super interesting to me. I finished up the Exercise Physiology text’s yesterday finally, and started on the Nutrition text today. The body’s pretty crazy I’ll have to say, and there’s a lot of misinformation out there. Thats why I urge any of you to research, research, research anything thoroughly before you begin any new fitness related endeavor’s. But, there’s a certain point where you may be researching too much – Sometimes you just need to get out there and do it! Just make sure you’re forms perfect and you’ll progress towards your goals. I’m not exactly sure how to put it into words, but I know I’ve caught myself researching something for a long time, the downside is I’ll get so into it, that I’ll lose focus – I’m not going to be a top tier powerlifter, so dont focus so much on little nuances of diet and timing – dont get me wrong, its still important – but actually going out there and doing work is going to be more beneficial than sitting in the library reading up on the most efficient, for lack of a better term, methods. Make sense?

Granted, having more knowledge on a subject can never hurt, but do you understand what I’m saying? Follow Nike’s advice and ‘Just Do It’. The more you get into it, thats the time to refine your techniques, and timings, and all the fun stuff that top tier’d athletes need to focus on. If you don’t have the time, but you’ve the passion for it, maybe consider hiring a personal trainer. They’re people like me, who’re absolutely obsessed with fitness and optimization and will / have spent the house hours researching.

Its another Interval Set training day. I’m going to see if I can max out at the six – eight rep range. I’m hoping the addition of the books on my back will be able to facilitate that.

First set was pretty easy, but around the seventh rep of the second set, it was getting hard. I like when I can’t complete the 12 rep goal – well when thats my goal for the day’s workout at least. Could definitely feel it on that third set – Hot damn, burn baby burn.

Military Presses dont seem to have much added difficulty with the two sets that I’ve completed already. I may elevate my feet for them when I’m back to this routine on Monday.They’re kind of weird to do with the backpack also, I may invest in an actual weighted vest. The backpack slips up to the back of my head while performing these – kind of a weird feeling in my neck.

I know these Close Grip Pushups are going to put a hurt on the ol’ Triceps though – Especially after I get to the Dips! Was able to crank out 12 reps for the first set, but I know I wont be getting that again today. Was a battle to maintain proper form to get to 12.